"Cough! Cough! Water.. I need water." Ophelia did not remember how long she had walked in the dark passage.
How many times she felt something slippery walking over her feet or a strange hiss in her ears.
She did not even want to remember how dark and painful it was to walk over the stones and pointed rocks.
Her body was exhausting and on the verge of giving up. She swore if she had walked further, she would have died.
But the rays of sun falling on her skin had brought a new hope to live in her.
Her eyes were still trying to adjust with the light she was seeing after an eternity had passed.
"There is a lake nearby. You can have water there!" taking a deep breath as if trying to fill the lack of air in her body, Ophelia sat on the ground.
"Thank you! Shall we rest here for a few minutes before walking again?" She knew that they were in grave danger, therefore she had not asked her sister to stop even once in the dark cave.
More than that she was afraid that they would face more danger from the crawling beasts if they stopped. But now that she could feel the warmth of the sun on her skin again, her body was giving up.
Olivia's head snapped back to her sister with the desire to deny but when she looked at her pale face and parched lips, she did not have the heart to do so.
Ophelia, grown as a princess, had always been sheltered and had never faced life and death situations.
It was already a miracle that she had survived so far and did not throw any tantrums. It had been two days since they were walking without a drop of water, much less food.
"Perhaps you are right. We should rest a bit." With a grateful look on her face, Ophelia nodded as she knew how hard her sister was trying to keep them alive, yet she was of no help to her.
"Ophi, stay here alright. I will try to bring some water and fruits for you.`` The grumbling stomach of her sister made Olivia realize that if she would not feed her, they would not be able to resume their journey.
"No! You are tired too. I will come with you. How will you.." a soft chuckle stopped Ophelia from complaining further.
She was amazed at how her sister was still standing and talking. As if she had not been thirsty or hungry at all.
She had always felt jealous when their father had praised her for her strength and bravery after their training and did not understand what was so great about rolling in mud and spending time with those smelly men and come home with a lot of scratches in your skin, but now that she looked at her, she realized how foolish she was!
"Did you forget that I have been trained to be a knight all my life? This is nothing, I have faced worse!" she lied with the blank face to console her sister who nodded with a wry smile on her face.
"Yes! I forgot how strong my sister is! Go then, but do not go far away and come soon. I will not feel at ease until you come back." Olivia patted Ophelia on her shoulders and then scanned the whole place to check if there was any threat.
Once assured, she left the place with a heavy heart. The images of the death of their parents continued to flash in front of her eyes as if an iron chain was placed in her ankle.
Each step was too heavy to take as she continued to feel suffocated. But now she had responsibility for her sister and revenge! Revenge on all of those men who had destroyed her happy family.
Their laughing faces were dancing in front of her eyes, making her blood boil.
Her nails dug deeper in her wounds and fresh blood started to pour out of them but she did not feel pain at all, all she could feel was hatred. Hatred that she was still so weak that she was not able to protect her family, the family who had given her everything.
She only stopped and came out of her thoughts when water started to touch her feet.
Even in her state, she could not forget that Ophelia needed water and some food.
Bending down, she washed her face. The cold water gave some relief to the fire burning her and helped her in collecting her thoughts.
"Now is not the time to think about revenge, Olivia. You have to think about survival first!" Those were the words her father used to whisper in her ears whenever she had a brawl with other knights because they mock her for being a woman.
"I think this is the time to follow your advice, father!" she whispered softly as her tears mixed between the fresh drops of water dripping from her face.
How much time had passed when she finally stood up and made a small bowl of leaves. She scanned around for the possible food and took some berries and other wild fruits with her.
Taking the water in the bowl, she started to go back to where her sister was waiting for her.
Ophelia was already sleeping when Olivia reached the hill again. Putting all the food and water near her, Olivia sat beside her while looking at the sky that already had a shade of red.
If they want to survive they have to be sure about the condition of the town first before continuing their journey from there.
Then she had to find a place where they could live for the meantime.
She had already checked her pockets. There was nothing much except a few gold coins that she had always kept in her disguised clothes.
But that would not be enough for more than a week!
"How will I take revenge if I will not even be able to survive!"